alaska fire season 2009 - Alaska Interagency Coordination Center

56 Pages·2010·2.43 MB·English

Fire #164 Broken Snowshoe courtesy of SWS
ALASKA FIRE SEASON 2009
Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report - AICC
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1 Index
2 2009 Alaska Fire Season Summary
3 Fire Weather Summary
5 Fires Narratives with Perimeter Maps
18 Railbelt Complex
24 Crazy Mt. Complex
37 Incident Management Team Assignments / Overhead Assignments
38 Statewide Totals by Month
39 Statewide Fire Statistics - Averages
40 Statewide Fires and Acres by Protection Agency and Management Option
41 Statewide Fires and Acres by Landowner and Management Option
42 Alaska Fire Service Protection Fires and Acres by Zone and Management Option
U.S. Forest Service Protection Fires and Acres by Forest and Management Option
43 State of Alaska Fires and Acres by Region / Area and Management Option
44 Bureau of Land Management Fires and Acres by Field Office and Landowner
45 National Park Service Fires and Acres by Park and Landowner
46 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fires and Acres by Refuge and Management Option
47 State of Alaska Fires and Acres by Administrative Unit and Management Option
48 10 year Numbers
49 Numbers by the Decade
50 T2 EFF Crew Assignments, Alaska Agency Crew Assignments, L48 Crews in Alaska
51 Alaska EFF T2 Crew Assignments
53 Village Crew Wages

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2009 Alaska Fire Season Summary

The National Seasonal Assessment workshop was held in mid April for Alaska. The initial fire potential
predictions made for the 2009 Alaska season all indicated a lower than average number of acres would be
burned. The AICC Predictive Services group, the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, and a
private Meteorologist all predicted a slow Alaskan fire season. Each of these forecasts used different
techniques, but all were based on climate indices. Though there have been great improvements in long
term forecasting over the past 10 years, the extremely dry July in the Interior and Southeast Alaska was not
forecast, and this dry weather was the major factor in a busy 2009 fire season. In April, the climate indices
showed a La Nina pattern, which means cooler than normal sea surface temperatures in the Eastern Pacific
along the equator. This has most frequently been associated with slower than normal fire seasons in
Alaska. Early spring forecasts showed the weak La Nina pattern persisting through the summer. In fact,
the La Nina pattern transitioned rapidly in early summer to an El Nino, with warmer sea temperatures. It
is likely that the feedback from these changes led to the difference in Alaska’s fire weather.
The first fire number of the season was issued for a CGF downed powerline fire on 1/21/09. The second was
issued to SWS on 3/18/09 for a fire estimated at 25` x 75-100`smoldering in a large rock slide debris field,
located adjacent to the Iditarod trail. This fire continued to burn all summer and grew to 1,000 acres.
There were no more fire numbers issued until April, which proved to be the beginning of the 2009 fire
season with a total of 34 fires.
Fires on the Kenai Peninsula in the old bug-killed spruce continued to be a problem. This fuel complex has
a matted grass understory with dead and down spruce. A brief period of drying is all that is needed for the
fine fuels to be available to burn, and when combined with winds can lead to rapid fire spread. Warm and
dry weather at the start of May brought Duff Moisture Codes (DMCs) to above normal to record dry levels
on the Kenai Peninsula.
Fuels were extremely dry across much of eastern Alaska through August. Canadian Fine Fuel Moisture
Code values reached very high to extreme values in early June with Buildup Index (BUI) values reaching
critical levels by June 10 across most of eastern Alaska. It wasn’t until the first week of August that rainfall
and cooler weather finally drove BUI indices down below critical levels and kept them there through the
end of the month. By the end of July, Alaska had 468 fires (115% of normal) that burned 2,081,295 acres,
which is 186% of normal. By the end of August, 511 fires had burned 2,934,455 acres which is 171% of
normal.
In November, a 5 acre fire was discovered in the Galena Area. In December, a brush fire on Military land
was the last fire of the season.
The final acreage for the year was 2,951,592.9 acres with 527 fires.

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Weather Summary 2009

The weather in Alaska for the summer of 2009 started off highly variable and not supportive of much
extensive fire activity, but culminated with one long period of hot, dry July weather that was extremely
conducive to widespread fires.
May started off the season with unseasonably warm Interior temperatures at the beginning and end of the
month, sandwiching a much cooler stretch through the middle. Temperatures reached 80 F in Fairbanks,
and precipitation was only 0.06 inches, making it the driest May in over 80 years. The western Interior
showed similar trends, with McGrath reporting high temperatures of 78f, and only half the normal 1 inch of
rain. The first thunderstorms of the season also began around the western Interior on May 23rd, sparking a
series of fires in the McGrath area and southern Tanana Zone, many of which persisted for much of the
summer. Though South Central did not have large temperature swings and received near average rainfall
for the month, it was also generally on the warm side and quite dry until the last few days of May. This
trend was present from the Matsu Valley to the Copper River Basin and on the Kenai Peninsula, where dry
conditions led to the first large fire of the season; rain at the end of the month quieted this fire.
As June began, Interior conditions cooled and what looked like a potentially busy season settled down.
The average temperature in Fairbanks was right around 60 F for the month, which was normal.
Precipitation there was 0.15 inches above the normal 1.40 inches. McGrath showed similar conditions.
In typical fashion, late June lightning activity started a series of fires in the Upper Yukon and Tanana
Zones, most of which burned slowly at first.
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Meanwhile, in the Anchorage area, though temperatures were near normal for June, the precipitation for
the month was about half, with only 0.57 of the usual 1.06 inches of rain. This dry trend reached to the
Copper River area, where little rain fell in the low, flat lands of the Basin, and the Kenai Peninsula, where
except for some showers along the Kenai Mountains, little precipitation fell prior to June 20th. Though
possible increased fire activity was anticipated on the Kenai Peninsula, activity remained minimal until the
rain reappeared at the end of June. Copper River Basin did have several fire starts, one of which became a
significant large fire.
High pressure set up over eastern Alaska at the beginning of July and kept its grip on much of the state
through the first week of August. It is during that 5-week period that about 2.5 million acres burned. The
July average high temperature in Fairbanks was the highest ever recorded at 78.6 F (normal average high is
73.0 F). Total rainfall of 0.06 inches made July 2009 the driest summer month ever measured in Fairbanks
in 105 years of observations. McGrath, in the western interior, followed a similar trend, setting a new high
temperature record of 89 degrees on July 7th and receiving only half of their average 2.32 inches of July
precipitation. (McGrath actually broke four daily high temperature records during July; Fairbanks broke
two). Hot temperatures and parched fuels were also found towards the ALCAN border and south into the
Copper River Basin. South Central experienced similar fuel conditions as it was also warm and dry for the
first 2/3 of the month. Some new fires started, but the majority of activity was on fires that had begun in
June, and became increasingly active as fuels dried out. With the exception of Copper River Basin, South
Central saw a reprieve as low pressure began dominating the Gulf of Alaska in the last 1/3 of July, bringing
periodic clouds and rains which started to dampen fuels, decreasing fire concern in that part of the state.
August dawned still hot and dry in the Interior, with a huge ridge based along the west coast of the Lower
48 holding over the eastern part of Alaska for the first eight days. Gradually, it released its grip on the
weather, and the rains came. August 6th saw some rain in Copper River Basin; by August 9th it had worked
its way north into the Upper Yukon zone. Light and steady at first, the precipitation soon turned into
deluge events over portions of the Eastern and Central Interior. Fairbanks exceeded the average August
rainfall of 1.74” by nearly one full inch, and had an average temperature of 54.5 F 1.7 degrees colder than
normal. Anchorage had almost exactly its average of 2.9 inches, while McGrath remained the dry spot with
nearly a 2 inch deficit against its normal August precipitation of 2.75 inches.
Southeast Alaska had one of the driest and warmest summers on record. High pressure ridging dominated
for much of the season. Temperatures into the 70s and 80s prevailed, with near record-high temperatures
occurring from Annette to Yakutat. Of specific note was the far northern portion of the Panhandle,
including Haines and Skagway. Over the course of a typical May, June, and July, average precipitation is
4.27 inches at Haines and 3.80 inches at Skagway. This summer, between May 1st and August 15th, just 0.9
inches fell at each of these locations. FFMCs in these two locations moved into the extreme fire behavior
category in May, well ahead of most other stations.
During the height of fire activity at the end of July and beginning of August, smoke blanketed the northern
half of the state up to more than 10,000 feet; as far north as Deadhorse and Barrow, west to Kotzebue and
Nome, South to the Alaska Range, and east into Canada. Southern portions of the state also experienced
smoke, but it was generally for shorter periods of time and to a much smaller extent.
The first half of September was the warmest on record at Fairbanks International Airport with an average
high temperature of 68.9, 10.2 degrees above average. The exceptionally dry weather continued thru
December.
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#088 Mile 17 East End Road
A KKS engine was dispatched on 5/12/09 to a reported fire approximately 17 miles East of Homer. While
still a few miles out from the fire the engine crew reported a 700 foot smoke column was visible. Initial size
up was approximately 2 acres burning in grass and dead and downed spruce with some single tree
torching. Additional resources were ordered including a load of smokejumpers, 2 crews, helitack, ad air
attack. By the end of the day the fire was uncontained, uncontrolled and estimated at 65 acres. Four loads
of retardant had been dropped.
The following day the fire was exhibiting extreme fire behavior which caused a break in the containment,
and residences were threatened. Two air tankers, air attack, a lead plane and 5 helicopters worked the fire.
Additional crews were ordered. Fourteen loads of retardant were dropped, but the fire had grown to 700
acres. A mandatory evacuation order was put in effect for the area, and East End Road was closed to all east
bound traffic. An Incident Management Team was ordered and assumed command the next day at 2100.
The fire had grown to 1,074 acres and was 25% contained.
By 5/16/09 the weather had changed, the evacuation order had been lifted, and fire behavior had modified. On
5/20/09 the fire transitioned to a Type 3 organization, and four days later the fire was demobed and placed in
monitor status. The final count of structures lost (out of approximately 150 residences and 150 outbuildings
threatened) was 2 residences and 8 out buildings. Final acreage 1,074

Mile 17 East End Road

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#152 Tonclonukna Creek
A private aircraft reported a 50 acre fire, burning in a Limited protection area, to SWS dispatch on 5/23/09.
The fire was placed in monitor status. Over a week later, personnel on a surveillance flight found the fire
had moved in to a Full protection area and was approximately 9,327 acres.
By 6/9/09 a Type 3 Team was in place at Telida, AK, and 2 crews were assigned to the fire to begin
defensible space work and structure protection. The fire was burning towards the village of Telida, was 5
miles from the airport, and 27,624 acres in size.
Burnout operations began late on 6/10/09 and continued 6/11/09 with hand and aerial firing. The following
day a reconnaissance flight confirmed the main perimeter was secure on the North flank of fire. The fire
was completely demobed on 6/16/09, and was placed in monitor status.
On 7/11/09 the fire was found to be re-burning on the west end of the Telida airstrip. 2 smokejumpers were
deployed to contain the reburn and monitor fire behavior in and around Telida. There were 2 allotments
less than 2 miles from the fire to the west that were evaluated for possible action, and 3 to the north less
than 1 mile from the fire. The smokejumpers were demobed two days later and the fire had grown to 75,574
acres.
Helitack returned to the fire periodically to complete burnout operations for allotment protection, and the
fire continued to grow and be monitored. On 8/11/09 Helitack was deployed to contain a spot fire on an
allotment on the northwest side of the North Fork of the Kuskokwim River. An updated perimeter map from
Firehawk mission revealed 164,318 acres had been burned.

Tonclonukna Creek
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#155 Kantishna River
On 5/23/09 TAD Zone surveillance reported a two acre fire on the east side of the Kantishna River with one
structure to the north of the fire. The fire plotted in a Limited protection area and was placed in monitor
status.
The fire continued to burn on the east side of the river and by July it had reached 5,471.3 acres. Monitoring
continued and on 8/14/09 a digitized perimeter map showed 31,338.4 acres had burned.

Kantishna River

Lightning Fires in the southern Interior 5/23-5/30
Thirty six lightning fires were reported the last week of May in the first widespread lightning “bust” of the
season. Several of these fires required action due to proximity to villages, allotments, and resources. The
rainfall with these thunderstorms was spotty, and because of dry and warm weather the week before, the
fuels were dry, burned readily, and allowed the fires to spread rapidly. Rainfall at the beginning and end of
June slowed or halted these fires. Warm and dry weather through July allowed some of these fires to
become active again and spread significantly, with many requiring additional action or site protection.

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#164 Broken Snowshoe
Personnel on a detection flight on 5/24/09 reported a lightning fire located 15 miles north of McGrath that
was 100% active, burning in black spruce. Air attack, retardant, and smokejumpers were requested. 45,000
gallons of retardant and 14 smokejumpers were dropped on the 500 acre fire that first day, and orders were
placed for crews.
The following day 4 crews arrived, 20 additional loads of retardant were dropped and a medium helicopter
did bucket work. The fire was running and spotting in black spruce, and structure protection was put in
place along the Kuskokwim River. The fire grew to 5,000 acres and a T3 organization was established.
Extremely dry fuels and lack of precipitation created a high resistance to control. The fire was threatening
primary residences, cultural resources and private property.
The fire more than doubled in size the following day and was approximately 11,997 acres by the end of
shift. On 5/27/09 a T2 Incident Management Team (Doty) assumed command. Structure and cabin triage
was pursued on all flanks and crews worked on line construction in several locations on Western and
Eastern flanks, yet the fire grew over 10,000 acres. Direct attack on the Northern perimeter proved
ineffective.
The last two days of the month brought mitigating weather helping the fire fighting efforts. On 5/31/09 13
crews, 5 helicopters and 82 overhead personnel were assigned to the fire and it was 9% contained.
Five days later the fire was turned over to a T3 organization at 25,345 acres and it was 50% contained.
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The fire was demobed and placed in monitor status on 6/10/09 with a final acreage of 25,339.6.

Broken Snowshoe
#175 Old Man Fire
A smoke from a lightning strike was reported to TAS by a lodge owner in Chicken on 5/25/09. The fire,
burning in spruce within an old 2004 burned area, quickly grew to 700 acres and was threatening the
community of Chicken and adjacent mining operations. A Bird Dog with 2 Fire Cats made numerous
retardant drops. A medium helicopter, 3 Engines and 2 dozers also responded.
The following day the fire was 60% active on the South perimeter and East flank and Ingle creek. An air
tanker, Canadian bird dogs, fire cats, and 2 medium helicopters continued working fire. Four Type 2 crews
and one Type 1 crew arrived to assist. The day after, a Type 3 organization was put in place and operational
control of the fire was transferred to Alaska Fire Service Upper Yukon Zone.
On 5/28/09, at 777.8 acres, the fire received significant rain, and three days later it was 100% contained. On
6/03/09 the fire was completely demobed and placed in monitor status.

Old Man Fire

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